Former members of the Denison Singers will return to Granville this month for a reunion and celebration of the group's 40th anniversary. Members are returning from as far away as London (England) and Moscow (Idaho). The reunion will culminate in a concert at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday (June 24) in Swasey Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.

The concert program will consist of literature from the group's past as well as new pieces written especially for the 40th anniversary. Clifford Davis of Mount Vernon has written new music for portions of the "Requiem" which the returning Singers will perform. They also will sing a new setting of portions of Psalm 139 by R. Michael Daugherty of Jacksonville, N.C.

Works by Josquin des Prez, Orlando Gibbons, Stephen Foster, Scott Joplin, William Dawson and Aaron Copland will also be on the program.

Organized in 1961 as a madrigal group by Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts William Osborne, the repertoire soon expanded to include every sort of literature appropriate for a chamber chorus. During the last four decades, the group has presented more than 500 performances, not only inbut also on domestic tours that have taken them to 24 states and on 11 foreign tours across much of Europe plus South Africa and Venezuela. The most recent trip took the ensemble to Portugal for a series of nine concerts. They have also worked with the Columbus Symphony, The Early Interval and the Bergonzi String Quartet and participated in the touring shows of both singer Andy Williams and The Chieftains.

The concert will be conducted by Osborne, who serves as director of choral organizations and University organist at Denison. Also performing will be instrumentalists Susan Billin (Moscow, Idaho) and Meredith Needham (), pianists, and David Damschroder (Minneapolis), organist.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

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Director, Media Relations

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stambaughb@denison.edu

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(740) 587-8575